It didn’t take long for the inevitable shop. Gacked from Tumblr.

A reminder that on this day in 1989, nothing happened.

https://youtu.be/T2BXcf3DcQc?si=mMsv8ddUVi5RGBNf

“All I'm saying is It's a new era now, and things are about to get really weird.”

- Harold Finch, Person of Interest, S02E11, 2πr

Posting this with a heavy heart. Richard (and his wife Marion, who predeceased him). were wonderful people and a key part of my getting involved in fandom.

Please reboost far and wide.

Poster details in alt-text.

RE: https://theblower.au/@franksting/116595838199536178

That’s a very good way of putting it.

Mastodon
A short play by Lyn.

User: "Oh my god, my leg has fallen off and my house is on fire!"

User 2, enters from stage left: "Have you tried Linux?"

Curtain.

Oh… hello bonny… welcome in my train!
Oh you lost your friend on the European Sleeper Berlin-Paris?? Shall I ask the fedi if they know where your friend is??

Hey cuties can we help this bunny go back home?? 💕💕🐰❤️🦈

That Grauniad rage-bait article confirms I'm an absolute Philistine. A very happy one with over 5,000 books on the shelves, but a Philistine nonetheless.

Anyone care to know which ones I've read?

Torment Nexus Update:

SF Author: In my book "Don't Create The Torment Nexus" I invented the Torment Nexus solely as a cautionary tale.

AI Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from the classic SF novel "Don't Create The Torment Nexus"!

AI Company, two years later: We now strongly blame the classic SF novel "Don't Create The Torment Nexus" for us actually creating the Torment Nexus and it turning out being really, really bad.

RE: https://mastodonapp.uk/@Silversnapples/116564158962069826

I just checked to make sure they hadn’t “forgotten” my opting out from last time.

They hadn’t. Good folks.

PSA: when your iPhone demands you give them your credit card details to prove you’re 18 or over, the card saved for Apple Pay will not do. You have to give them another card details. Also your phone number.
“Age verification”. Yeah, right.

It's a long way from Wimbledon Common...
https://www.mikebatt.com/news/symphony

For tonight, a pome by Ogden Nash:

The hands of the clock were reaching high
In an old midtown hotel;
I name no name, but its sordid fame
Is table talk in hell.
I name no name, but hell's own flame
Illumes the lobby garish,
A gilded snare just off Times Square
For the maidens of the parish.

More at https://www.poemist.com/ogden-nash/a-tale-of-the-thirteenth-floor (and other joints)

I see the rich marks suckered into the con game are now trying to haul the rest of us along with them.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/17/liz-kendall-urges-uk-public-to-embrace-ai-as-government-makes-first-500m-fund-investment

The Daily Mail is running a poll on whether the UK should rejoin the EU. Be a good citizen and nudge it in the right direction.
(H/T Otto English on BlueSky)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15729479/Hungary-PM-Britain-rejoin-EU-Starmer-Brexit-Brussels.html#poll-share-1225421

RE: https://digipres.club/@timixretroplays/116400799417215833

Reboosting.

It says something about the state of the UK news that this is being reported by Sky News and… and… nobody else, apparently.

https://news.sky.com/story/hundreds-of-mourners-gather-in-pouring-rain-for-funerals-of-lebanon-journalists-13525792

RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/116337015253122494

The Merchants’ War… in spaaaaaace!

“An official United States government app is injecting CSS and JavaScript into third-party websites to strip away their cookie consent dialogs, GDPR banners, login gates, and paywalls.”
But did anyone expect any better from that shower?

https://blog.thereallo.dev/blog/decompiling-the-white-house-app

RE: https://mastodon.social/@greenpeace/116301335883460046

Don't think someone won't try.

"We don't know who struck first, us or them, but we know that it was us that scorched the sky. At the time, they were dependent on solar power and it was believed that they would be unable to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun.”

https://matrix.fandom.com/wiki/Operation_Dark_Storm